Chapter 1
=========
“Frickin’ zombies,” Jeff muttered as he shot flaming arrows into the blocky monster biting his avatar in the game. His tablet flashed a popup warning about low battery power, but he dismissed it and kept playing.
The resort bedroom was crowded with open suitcases and the resulting explosion of his cousins’ clothes. His *girl* cousins. There were bathing suits, bright colored shirts, matching shorts, and more shoes than he’d ever owned. And then there were hair doodads, sparkily jewelry, and every kind of electronic gadget. The sight of it all pissed him off even more.
He continued to fire flaming arrows into the shambling zombie bonfire. “Die,” he muttered at the Zombie while he glared at Amy, Shelly, and Lori laughing and talking on the other bed.
The adults were staying in the adjoining room. His dad shot him a sympathetic look through the open door. Then he raised a silver flask to his lips, tilted his head back, and shut his eyes. *Lucky bastard.*
Jeff was the oldest cousin and, apparently, that made him the unpaid babysitter for the other three. He glared at Amy. She was the closest to him in age, but she’d been a bitch ever since they showed up earlier that afternoon.